Wainman Joke is a beast at landing soft but a slower board. I'd recommend if you try one go a size bigger, and that goes for any of the wake style boards. I had a high kite loop on the joke with a gust on a light day and as i fell from the sky i just knew i was going to the hospital with a blown knee. The board absorbs so much energy.

My knees are not the best either. Years of heavy weight lifting has taken it's toll on my joints. I'm rehabing both shoulders from ac arthritis surgery. At 33 I'm with OldNBroken if you can fix the knees do it. I know I'm going to love my refurbished shoulders!

All so try bringing your stance in so your feet are closer. Same for your duck it helps a lot. I found that my knees stopped hurting once i did those 2 things on my wake board.

ed257 wrote:Did somebody already say Monk???
I am 56, my knees bother me too - but I still like to boost.
I just got a monk...I also have a Mako 140, but no longer need it.
The other day I was boosting big all day long on my Epic Screamer 10M LTD and my new Monk.
I could not believe it, but after kiting all day my knees felt fine.
There really is something magical about the monk.
It does everything really well and really comfortably.

I am with you. Had the Makos 150&140 and my Monk was just much better.
And the 3G Epic Screamer 10M LTD kite!!
For me, the 3G Screamer 10M LTD and Monk combination is unbeatable.

TheJoe wrote:Wainman Joke is a beast at landing soft but a slower board.
I'd recommend if you try one go a size bigger, and that goes for any of the wake style boards.
I had a high kite loop..i just knew i was going to the hospital with a blown knee.
The Joke absorbs so much energy.
My knees are not the best either. Years of heavy weight lifting has taken it's toll on my joints.
I'm rehabbing both shoulders from ac arthritis surgery.
At 33 I'm with OldNBroken if you can fix the knees do it.
I know I'm going to love my refurbished shoulders!

Also, try bringing your stance in so your feet are closer. Same for your duck it helps a lot.
I found that my knees stopped hurting once i did those 2 things on my wake board.

Joe - I feel for you, ...you're my kids age and have blown joints already!
Glad you were able to get your shoulders fixed, if your parts are broken and a doctor can do something about it, then I say ...get em dun!
I agree, the stance not too far apart or too ducked seems to feel right.
So, at my 175-180 pounds, I hope I chose well with the Joke 138 with straps...will find out soon.

TheJoe wrote:Wainman Joke is a beast at landing soft but a slower board.
I'd recommend if you try one go a size bigger, and that goes for any of the wake style boards.
I had a high kite loop..i just knew i was going to the hospital with a blown knee.
The Joke absorbs so much energy.
My knees are not the best either. Years of heavy weight lifting has taken it's toll on my joints.
I'm rehabbing both shoulders from ac arthritis surgery.
At 33 I'm with OldNBroken if you can fix the knees do it.
I know I'm going to love my refurbished shoulders!

Also, try bringing your stance in so your feet are closer. Same for your duck it helps a lot.
I found that my knees stopped hurting once i did those 2 things on my wake board.

Joe - I feel for you, ...you're my kids age and have blown joints already!
Glad you were able to get your shoulders fixed, if your parts are broken and a doctor can do something about it, then I say ...get em dun!
I agree, the stance not too far apart or too ducked seems to feel right.
So, at my 175-180 pounds, I hope I chose well with the Joke 138 with straps...will find out soon.

Yeah that will be a good size for you. I weigh the same and ride wake boards in the 138-143 range. The convex bottom is amazing at displacing h2o.

ed257 wrote:The other day I was boosting big (by my standards) all day long on my Epic 10 LTD and my new Monk. I could not believe it, but after kiting all day my knees felt fine. Normally they are sore and achy even the next day or so. I did not take any ibuprofen, aspirin or even glucosamine sulfate.
E

What kind of pain and where in your knees?

I've had sore knees on and off - assumed it was from slamming - then had it again for a few days last month... worried it might have been the fault of riding my big TT, then had a day riding my smaller TT and had the same pain... thought about it for a while - the pain was noticeable when I wobbled from side to side, with feet in place.

Decided that perhaps it was because I was setting up the jumps by driving the board upwind by pushing my feet forward, like I was trying to tail slide on a rail.

Next session, I concentrated on keeping my stance neutral, leaning back against the kite and letting the board carve and my weight do the work.

No more sore knees!

My knee problem started when I damaged my knee cap. I was playing basketball full-court and running up the court someone tripped me and I fell hard full force on my knee cap and cracked it. I went to rehab and keep up with some PT on my own, but when I do anything with any force or impact - it gets sore. I can swim, walk, ride a bike without pain - but basketball, tennis, heavy weight training, snowboarding (except powder), mountain biking, road biking hard up hills etc will aggregate it.

One thing I have learned to do while kiting in chop is to relax and flex my knees as I go over chop - just as good skiers do when skiing in moguls. This technique greatly reduces my knee soreness.

ed257 wrote:Did somebody already say Monk???
I am 56, my knees bother me too - but I still like to boost.
I just got a monk...I also have a Mako 140, but no longer need it.
The other day I was boosting big all day long on my Epic Screamer 10M LTD and my new Monk.
I could not believe it, but after kiting all day my knees felt fine.
There really is something magical about the monk.
It does everything really well and really comfortably.

I am with you. Had the Makos 150&140 and my Monk was just much better.
And the 3G Epic Screamer 10M LTD kite!!
For me, the 3G Screamer 10M LTD and Monk combination is unbeatable.

Took a day off from the thread and have a new perspective. Though I have always been irritated when a specific question (What kind of boards would offer softer landings, like the Raptor?) goes off into tangents i.e. - maybe it's my technique, maybe I shouldn't be jumping, dumbass, etc. - maybe I'm wrong to be irritated in the big picture...

As I read through the posts I really enjoyed it. I was informed, it was spirited, and I learned a lot. For example, though I'm still getting a different board, the best jump I ever had was on my Mako King and a 2011 Cabrinha Switchblade 12m. There was something different in the kite that made the jump higher and easier than my SS Revs. My friend who flies the SB's has taken my Revs out on many occasions and said it "simply isn't as good for jumping". Now how exactly the kite's design relates to jumping I'm not sure. Just don't like the depower system of the SB, pull straps were just a bit too far to reach (use Dynabar which pushes things out further) plus they were really hard to pull under strong wind...

Where I'm from gusts are the typical day and you need to either have a long throw (like my Revs) or a really easy above bar system like on my Ozone Zephyr.

Another kite that has lifted me nicely is the Epic Screamer 10m. It's a quick kite that seems to want to just shoot for the sky when you send it. Depower is not enough for me, or not quick enough and relaunch can be difficult. Technique, I know - I know... I'm sorry I'm a dumbass who doesn't want to fuck around in the cold deep water.

But for me every landing can't be perfect. I'm inexperienced at jumping - been doing it for 2 seasons now... I've surfboarded it for 4 years and kited since '07. I went to the surfboard because I believe the stance is so much better for knee health. You can put your legs and feet wherever it "feels" best. You're always moving on the board as you jibe and go upwind, downwind. How can a "duck" position be any good for questionable knees?

My knees simply had torn meniscus from aggressive "stop start" sports like football, tennis, and who knows what effect years of mogul bashing and aerials on the ski hill had. I'm 50 and it simply isn't the same as when I was 25. When I land right on my Mako it's heaven. When I land wrong it kills. But either way there is some degree of absorption and I believe a smaller board designed for jumping and chop will minimalize the need for ice and Motrin.